Infinity — Chapter: Verdalis Awakens, Zettai Strikes
Veidar's smile twisted, cruel and sharp. "Now, let's end this."
Kharix, still bleeding from his shoulder, chuckled darkly. "I was wondering when you'd suggest that."
Their bodies surged with dark energy, pulsating in sync. An ominous hum filled the underground space. Shadow tendrils spilled from Veidar's limbs, while bone spikes erupted from Kharix's skin. Then—boom.
The cavern shook.
With a guttural roar, the two warriors lunged toward each other—not in combat, but in unity. Their shadows and bones coiled together, swirling in a grotesque storm. Energy crackled violently, like thunder trapped beneath the earth.
"No…" Anay whispered, backing up.
"They're merging?" Liora's eyes widened in horror.
The fusion completed in a burst of light and darkness—a towering form rising in their place.
A monstrous figure now stood before them—twice their size. Skeletal armor hugged its limbs, woven with shadows that moved like liquid. Its eyes burned with twin flares—one yellow, one crimson. A horned wolf skull sat like a crown upon its head.
Kharidar.
An abomination of fear and violence. A fusion of Veidar's spirit scream and Kharix's brute bone manipulation.
Kharidar grinned with broken teeth. "This power… is intoxicating."
Liora and Anay stepped back, shoulders brushing. Even Verdalis paused mid-flight, its wings trembling.
Suddenly, Kharidar pointed at Liora—and unleashed it.
A spiraling wave of darkness shot forward. It didn't hit her body. It hit her heart.
Her knees buckled.
She clutched her chest as if her soul were being crushed. Visions returned—her worst fears. The shadow wolf from her past . A world where she was always too late.
"Stop… please..." she whimpered.
The pain overwhelmed her spirit. The vines around her hands withered. Her eyes dulled.
Verdalis fluttered beside her in panic, struggling to keep the shadow wolf restrained. "Liora! Focus on me. Listen to my voice!"
Kharidar stepped forward, laughing. "She's done."
Anay flinched—his sister's breathing was shallow. Her past was unraveling her from the inside out.
Then Kharidar turned to him.
"Your turn."
He raised his fused claw—and unleashed the same dark wave toward Anay.
But then—
Kharidar staggered.
From his mouth… blood.
The abomination coughed, confused, trembling.
"What…?"
Another cough. More blood.
The fusion flickered.
"What did you do?" Kharidar growled.
Anay didn't answer.
He stood still, calm—his aura glowing softly around him. His dual daggers—Zettai Anant in dagger form—were clenched in a reverse grip, each one humming like they were resonating with the cosmos.
He hadn't even raised a weapon yet, but the moment the dark wave touched him…
It broke.
Like waves crashing against a divine rock.
"Your fusion drains life to work," Anay said flatly. "But when you tried to enter my mind, you touched something you shouldn't have."
Kharidar blinked. "What...?"
Zettai Anant pulsed brighter in his hands—one dagger coated in black flame, the other in white spirit light. His soul was not alone. His weapon… his will… and something higher stood between him and that darkness.
Liora, still kneeling, looked up slowly. "Anay… how…?"
But her voice shook.
Even with Kharidar weakening, the earlier attack had left her soul fractured. She gritted her teeth, trying to rise.
Her vines trembled.
She reached out a hand—but her spirit collapsed.
Then—
Verdalis screamed.
Wings spread wide, it shot downward and pressed its glowing head to Liora's.
"Let me carry it," Verdalis said, voice full of warmth. "Let me share the burden."
The vines around Liora's hands bloomed once more. Her eyes snapped open—filled with tears, but glowing anew.
"I'm not afraid of my past," she whispered. "Because I'm not alone."
The vines around the shadow wolf thickened again—tight, unrelenting.
The wolf roared in defiance—but it was fading.
And now—
Anay moved.
"Let's finish this."
He dashed forward. Kharidar swung—giant claws screaming through the air.
Anay ducked. Slid.
His daggers gleamed as he flipped through the air like a phantom. The black dagger curved around to slice the creature's wrist, while the white dagger stabbed straight into its chest.
Light met darkness.
Kharidar screamed—not just in pain, but in unraveling agony.
The fusion destabilized.
"Now, Liora!" Anay called.
She stood. Raised both palms.
Verdalis shot upward, wings wide.
And from the sky, a great beam of green and silver light fell—
Verdant Ray.
The beam struck the creature's head just as Anay twisted both blades inside its chest.
BOOM.
Kharidar shattered into light and dust—unfused, undone, screaming into silence.
Silence.
Only the sound of breathing remained.
Liora fell to her knees.
Anay stepped back, panting.
Verdalis hovered down beside her, glowing softly.
"You were brave," it said.
"I'm... free," Liora whispered, voice shaking. "For the first time… I'm free."
Anay extended a hand. She took it.
Side by side, they stood.
The fight was over.